Sunday 28 August 2022

First fruit for Nacho Wars .


Got the first few of the new Copplestone figures done . Here are some Republic del los Cocos Infantry , not sure about the bright green bases - may tone then down a bit .


Two members of the Republican High Command the figure on the right wears the full dress uniform of a General .


Nuevo Rico infantry Regiment Torta Cubana in the 'Tropical Green' uniform , they wear German Stahlhelm as the military have been influenced by Prussian military doctrine ..


A General of the Nuevo Rico Staff on the left and a Prussian Military 'Advisor' on the right (Nuevo Rico had an influx of German officers seeking employment after the end of the Great War) . I hope to get some more of the figures done in the coming days and get enough together for a small skirmish .







 

Friday 26 August 2022

Nacho Wars, an early photograph .


Whilst searching for more information about the 'Nacho Wars' I came across this period photo which purports to show a patrol of Republican infantry on patrol in the Burrito Valley . Like a lot of photographs of this conflict it is probably posed especially for the photographer . The infantry are wearing the 'grey' uniform which is actually white with a faint blue stripe (similar to the Spanish uniforms worn in the American-Spanish War in Cuba ) which at a distance appears a pale grey . The puttees are a darker colour , either dark blue or green . The French type helmets are khaki or Horizon blue .

 

Thursday 25 August 2022

Oh no ! not another new project !


So I've been watching the evolution of the new Copplestone 30mm toy soldier style figures with great interest . They are a range of Inter-war Imagination figures and they have got my juices running ! . Having done quasi European Imaginations I thought for a change of scene I would travel to South America a continent rich in potential - hence 'Nacho Wars' was conceived !.


The two combatants are Nuevo Rico and their rival the Republic del los Cocos who fought a little know war in the high Andes in the 1920s.


The figures have arrived - very chunky large 30mm in the Copplestone style and I hope to get some samples painted . For rules I'm going off-piste and using a version of Memoire 44 boardgame rules. Luckily I have an old copy of Almarks 'Nacho Wars' * for uniform details  and brief history of the war ..
*sadly now out of print and hard to find ..







 

Sunday 21 August 2022

A work in progress .


Got the first two of the 3D printed figures painted , they are very fine detailed and I have enjoyed painting them - if you click on the photo it will magnify all the mistakes I've made painting heraldry free hand - In fact I'm going to rectify some of the lining before doing the bases . I wonder how robust these figures will be in the rough and tumble of the gaming table ? . The others to follow .

 

Friday 19 August 2022

First encounter .


'A' dropped me off a small present today, four  28mm Medieval Men at Arms - the result of 3D printing in resin ! , he'd got them off eBay . This is the first time I've come across anything 3D printed - I'm aware of it taking certain aspects of the hobby by storm but not figures .(click on photo to enlarge0


I'm intrigued by them - they are very fine castings, light and with a lot of fine detail (again click on photo to enlarge) . I have glued them to bases and attached their shields to them with super glue , I'm going to undercoat them and will post photos of them painted . Is this the future of wargaming figures !? - and there is me just getting used to plastics ! .


In an act of serendipity my copy of Lion Rampant 2nd edition arrived from Amazon today (I'd rather forgotten I'd pre-ordered it ) , so these figures will be joining the ranks of my Lion Rampant armies .





 

Wednesday 17 August 2022

One of my favorite collections .

 


My 30mm Spencer Smith Franco-Prussian War figures are one of my favorite collections . I painted them up ten years ago and they have seen quite a bit of 'on table' action and unusually for me I set a total for how many units I was going to paint up - and actually stuck to it !!!


I use a variant of Don Featherstone's 'Horse and Musket' rules which are quick and simple and I can remember them in my head ! 


Think one of the reasons I like them is that they and the rules take me back to when I started wargaming over 50 years ago and they look like the armies used by Don Featherstone who has been one of the greatest influences on my gaming life . Following a few photos of them in action .


The Prussian General Staff plan their next move .


The Prussians storm a village ! 


Artillery in action !













Tuesday 9 August 2022

An early Swedish wargaming book (How To Wage War With Toy Soldiers)


Just came across this on the Tradition Facebook page a Swedish book published in 1914 (?) about playing with toy soldiers, sadly in Swedish (which I don't read or speak) but has overtones of H.G.Wells as it seems to use various methods of 'shooting' the toy soldiers with projectiles .


and I can make out enough of the words to get the jist of it I think .


I've never heard of this book and don't think it was ever reprinted or translated .


It has photos of some of the figures used in the game , flats or semi-flats ?


This advertisement is in the back of the book . This is a fascinating book and seems very rare to buy and probably very expensive so we are lucky to be able to view it on the above link .









 

Thursday 4 August 2022

An eBay bargain !


Saw these 10 Johillco British hollow cast infantry on eBay , so I bid for them and nobody else was interested ! so I got them for under £10 including postage - very pleased with myself ! . Interesting paint job (second class ?) only 4 colours - red , blue , black and flesh . I do like the red - sorta orangey tint to it which I find hard to replicate so may try and leave it and touch up the rest and add details . Now all I need is another 2 to make a unit up ! .

 

Monday 1 August 2022

Other peoples figures .


Not a lot been going on here , busy painting up some 15mm 1860's Sardinians for 'A' , the last few here - a few Generals , Cavalry and Besaglieri . He is basing them up himself for 'Bloody Big Battles' rules for an Italian Wars of Independence collection .


A few French - Guards in their Bonnet d Police - older figures and much fiddlier to paint - luckily I only had these few to paint as they where a pain ! . Back to painting some of my own figures now and in a BIGGER scale .